– De Burca welcomes Government’s electric car plan

Green Party Senator and European candidate for Dublin, Deirdre De Burca, has welcomed the Government’s plan to have 10% of all vehicles powered by electricity by 2020.

Senator De Burca called on Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council to investigate installing special electric recharging points on the streets of Dublin to encourage more drivers to switch to electric cars.

The Government aims to have 250,000 electric vehicles in Ireland by 2020, powered by cheap renewable energy.

Senator De Burca said, “Today’s plan is a major step towards an energy efficient future. Instead of sending money out of the country to pay for expensive oil and fossil fuels, we should be looking to our own local economy to see how we can fuel our transport fleet and help the economy. Switching to electric vehicles does just that.

“The Government plans to position Ireland as a centre for electric vehicles and expects major international investment in this initiative. This plan will stimulate our motor, electricity and green technology industries and will help the economy to recover from the current downturn.”

The Electric Vehicles plan includes tax incentives for business to purchase electric vehicles, a €1 million project by Sustainable Energy Ireland to research, develop and demonstrate vehicles nationally and the Establishment of a National Task Force which will examine infrastructure options for national roll-out of electric vehicles, including street charging.

Senator De Burca said, “My Green Party colleague, Councillor Gene Feighery, has already successfully tabled to have electric charging points installed by Dun Laoghaire / Rathdown Council; there is no reason why Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council cannot do the same. I look forward to the increase we will see in electric vehicles and to our energy efficient future, where the price of petrol or diesel becomes a worry of the past.”

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Dublin by Deirdre